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DuBois Beavers overwhelm Brookville Raiders' football

DUBOIS ­­­­— Brookville's winning streak (five games) was finally snapped when the powerhouse DuBois Beavers football team proved to be too much for the Raiders to handle in a 52-13 defeat Friday night.

With the loss, Brookville's record now sits at 5-2.

"There are always positives you will get from games like this... obviously, when you lose that bad there aren't as many as there should be, but they're definitely some positives, and the guys said some good things after the game," said Chris Dworek, Raider varsity football coach.

The Brookville "D" struggled to contain Beaver QB Gabe French, who threw for 352 yards, with five scores and two interceptions. He completed 21 of 27 passes on the night.

The Beavers also saw a strong performance from senior running back Garrett Brown.

He ran for 91 yards on 19 carries with two rushing TDs. He also caught five receptions for 78 yards, with one receiving score.

"They (DuBois) have weapons everywhere; we weren't able to contain them all the time. They have explosive, home-run threats, and we did a good job on a few plays but obviously not enough plays," said Dworek.

The Raiders' offense was led by Zach Vroman, who ran for 67 yards on 16 carries with a 4-yard TD run. Brodie Zacherl scampered for 41 yards on 7 carries.

DuBois wasted no time starting its scoring barrage. On the second play of its drive, French connected with Bryson Paulinellie for a 68-yard score. Kicker Josh Hnat booted the PAT and put the Beavers up 7-0 with just over 40 seconds off the clock.

Brookville struggled in its first drive, punting on its fourth play.
The Brookville "D" made up for its offensive woes on the Beavers' ensuing drive.

French snapped the ball out of the shotgun formation and found Miles Garrett open on the screen pass, but Zacherl predicted the play perfectly and tackled Garrett in the back field for a nine-yard loss.

On second and 19, French found Brown open for 15 yards. On third and three, French handed off to Paulinellie, but Vroman grabbed him in the backfield for a loss of six yards.

On fourth and ten, the DuBois offense decided to go for it and French tried to air the ball out, but opposing quarterback and defensive back, Cameron Yard, picked off the pass to give the Raiders a shot at tying the contest.

The Brookville offense could not keep the momentum going after the interception and was forced to punt after three plays.

On DuBois' ensuing drive, French found Jared Baummer open for a 43-yard gain.
The Brookville defense contained the DuBois offense after that, forcing Hnat to kick a 28-yard field goal that put the Beavers up 10-0.
Brookville's offense could not get anything going and was forced to punt once again.

DuBois' Dane Bright broke free for 25 yards on the first play of the Beavers' ensuing drive.

Brown then took the ball the remaining 23 yards for the score, putting DuBois up 17-0 after the PAT.

The Beavers scored once more in the first quarter with time winding down. After four carries with 38 yards, Brown punched the ball in from the 1-yard line to put DuBois up 24-0 after the PAT.

"The first quarter was rough because of the field position. We had many chances with our kick return to get a big return and make a few plays, but we dropped some passes, missed some blocks and missed some reads. We just didn't have enough execution that first quarter to flip the field a little bit," said Dworek.

The Raiders were able to light up the scoreboard in the second quarter. After a mishandled punt by DuBois, Brookville took advantage and picked the ball up at the Beaver 23-yard line.

On first down, Yard kept the ball and looked for an opening in the Beaver defensive-line but was unable to find one and was hit for a four-yard loss. Yard made up for it on the next play, finding Kiefer Gilhousen open for a nine-yard gain.

The very next play, Yard connected to Gilhousen again, this time in the end zone, for a 19-yard TD reception. Yard then kicked the PAT and cut DuBois' lead to 24-7.

Brookville kept DuBois off the scoreboard in the second quarter and went into the locker room at halftime with the score still at 24-7.

The Raiders came out strong in the second half. After DuBois' opening kickoff went out of bounds, Brookville took over from its own 35-yard line.

On first down, Yard kept the ball and scampered for 14 yards.

With a new set of downs, Yard pitched to Zacherl, who was nearly tackled in the backfield for a loss before he made a "Madden-esque" spin-move and turned the play into a two-yard gain instead. The next play, he broke free for 39 yards and put the Raiders 10 yards away from the score.

On first and goal, Vroman pushed the ball two yards further. On second and goal, Yard tried scrambling for the TD but was held up by the DuBois D-line for no gain. Yard tried to find Gilhousen on third down but could not connect, then Evan Matheny on fourth down but came up short.

The Raiders were forced into a turnover on downs and their hopes of a comeback would quickly vanish.

During DuBois' following drive, French connected to Bright for a 50-yard score. Later in the third quarter, French found Paulinellie open for a 21-yard TD.

Brookville was able to find the end zone with the third quarter winding down.

After a great catch by Nathan Bonfardine, which tallied 38 yards and a new set of down, Vroman saw his longest rush of the night with a 20-yard gain. Three plays later, he ran four yards for the score.

Yard tried to find an open receiver on the 2-point conversion attempt but was not so fortunate, and the score remained at 38-13 DuBois.

The Beavers scored one more time in the third quarter off a 55-yard TD reception by Brown.

In the fourth quarter, DuBois tallied the scoreboard one final time. Paulinellie trotted 19 yards for the TD. Josh Hayes kicked the PAT and put the Beavers up 52-13, which was the game's final score.